Oregon Legalizes Self-Gas Pumping | Hacker News Reader

Oregon Legalizes Self-Gas Pumping

kptv.com

For a confused German where everyone pumps their own gas: Why was this a law in the first place? Are there similar laws in other states?

Edit: Thanks everyone, that's really interesting. My only experience with attendants is in South Africa where you don't need a law, because the gas station doesn't trust the customers, and the customers don't want to risk opening their doors and get mugged ;)

New Jersey is the only other state that prohibits it, I think. Originally (early 20th century), it was a safety thing. But in Oregon, anyway, it became a cultural thing over time.

Right now, a number of my Oregonian friends are upset that they've legalized it. Mostly because it's a loss of a cultural touchpoint, but also because they don't want to have to get out of their car in cold Oregon rain to pump their own gas.

I have a dumb sounding question, but I don't know anything about Oregon... or really anything.

Do you think full service gas stations positively affected the economy via tourism? I ask because I've never experienced one and if one wasn't too far out of my way on a road trip I might have checked it out and the surrounding area.

I can confidently say no. US states, especially those in the West, are big and spread out. With few exceptions, you can't make minor detours to visit a state. Basically, if you were driving through Oregon, you didn't have any other option but to drive through Oregon, and if you're driving through Oregon, you're almost certainly going to have to stop for gas, because one tank probably won't get you across the state.

oregonian here.

full service in this context just means some gruff gentleman pumps your gas. getting your windows washed or oil checked is all but non-existent. so no, i don’t think there is any appeal for tourists. it’s an inferior experience.

gas stations are extremely understaffed these days, to the point where it’s rare at some stations for all the pumps to even be open. cars queue at popular stations while two employees man a dozen pumps. it can be agonizingly slow and frustrating.

i’ve read and heard a lot of pushback on self serve and i don’t get it. iirc stations are still required to offer full service on a portion of the pumps, so folks who don’t want to pump still won’t have to.

edit: all of this is of course my anecdotal experience from the willamette valley area.

This is exactly my experience too. My usual gas station experience involves waiting in a long line (they’ve only got one guy working the pumps, so only 2 or 3 pumps are open); pulling up to a pump; waiting a while for the attendant to get to me; handing him my credit card and yelling my rewards phone number at him (my gas tank is on the passenger side, making this annoying and error-prone); waiting briefly for the actual pumping; and then waiting for the guy to come back around to disconnect the hose.

It’s 5-10 minutes of waiting on a good day, or upwards of 20 minutes on a bad day, for 60 seconds of pumping gas. All the while most of the pumps are sitting there unused.

In NJ, I always thought the reasoning behind it was to provide more jobs and if you cut jobs it can backfire on the local politicians as it's really politically unfavorable to do so.

I have to get out of the vehicle to enter my PIN at the gas pump, and more times than not have to wait for an attendant to serve me. So I welcome this change. However out in the unincorporated areas a lot of gas stations already let you self serve so I may not see much of a change in that area.

Are gas stations in Jersey not normally covered?

They are. But they are not heated.

It's an old law from back in the 50s. It kinda stuck around because no politician wanted to be the one suggesting a legislative change that would instantly cause a bunch of gas station attendants to lose their job. I guess. Trust me, everyone else in the United States thought it was odd as well!

Funny story, though: the first time I drove down to Portland and stopped for gas just before the state border, there was a woman at the pump next to me with a very concerned look on her face. As I was getting gas for my own car, she turns to me and (slightly embarrassed) asks if I can show her how the pumps work. Of course, I did, but it definitely threw me for a loop until I remembered that law existed.

I had to show a college friend from New Jersey how to pump gas. We were seniors.

I don't know why her parents had never taught her; they had taken out-of-state trips that would have offered the chance.

it's a law that was pushed by the industry to prevent eliminating jobs under the guise of safety issues.

new jersey is the only other state with such a law (and it's even more restrictive than the oregon law was)

As a motorcyclist, this would drive me nuts. I only let an attendant do the job once, and they dribbled all over my tank. How is it that I, a non-attendant, pretty much never spray or spill all over my tank, but the paid experts do?

I get the same feedback when mentioning this to other bikers.

Experts is a really loose term when describing a gas station pumper

Petroleum transfer technician. Fuel provisioning coordinator Transportation energy facilitator

Looks better on a resume than minimum wage pump jockey.

I fully ignore this New Jersey idiocy with my cars and motorcyles, for the very same reason. The pumps are completely identical over there, so you can just pay with your card like in any every normal state.

My uncle started pumping by himself while on vacation. The attendant came running and pulled the nozzle from my uncles hands, spilling diesel all over his shoes.

This is part of my family lore.

> it's a law that was pushed by the POLITICIANS

FTFY. The industry is incentivized to reduce cost, politicians are incentivized to increase votes.

Oregon is the only state that was specifically created to keep people out based on ethnicity. Lookup the concept of sundown towns which still exist in the US ( i personally overheard about one in montana though, not oregon) and come to your own speculations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Oregon

Unions (so, the mafia).

As someone who has lived their entire life outside of OR/NJ, I cannot stand full-service gas stations (slow, silly, annoying) and will go well out of my way to avoid the few that still exist.

I used to routinely drive between PA and NY and always made sure I had plenty of gas so I didn't have to stop in NJ.

Here in Italy most places have both options. I've always used the selfservice one. It seems incredibly ignorant and lazy to pay extra for such a simple task. Northern European countries seem to completely lack this extra service.

Its really annoying to pay with debit, because im not about to give some guy my pin number. So i have to get out of the car anyway to type it into the machine.

What I do with my flatulence is my business and mine alone! Freedom!

Wow! Bold leadership Oregon!

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